Monday, May 21, 2018



Every year I struggle with multicultural skin tones.  It was a real dilemma!   I just wanted my students to feel good about the crafts they created in their own light. But most of them didn't look much like them because their skin tones were completely off. 



I work in one of the most diverse populations in the United States.  Houston, Texas!
In one of my classes, there were TEN different language spoken, so you know that there were probably as many skin tones too!  But all we had was MANILLA and DARK BROWN paper. And.. we only had peach and brown markers and crayons.

I was working on my Kindness is the New Cool resource with my students.  I got the idea to make one of the girl's cheeks rosy, so I was asking all of my colleagues if they had any blush.  Finally, I found some and it worked great.  The paper creation had nice rosy cheeks, but the skin color still didn't look right.  
That's when it hit me... Why couldn't I use MAKEUP for the skin tones.  Make up comes in SO MANY COLORS... All SKIN TONES!
I got so excited because I knew that brown eyeshadow would work great for the darker skin tones and.... it would also look smoother instead of all streaky like markers and crayons. There are 
SO MANY different shades of BROWN, too!
I started experimenting with the makeup and made some makeup "swatches" so the kids could see what the makeup would look like on paper.

The projects are now turning out so much better and kids are so much prouder of their projects that really match their skin tones!
Now look at the difference!

I used Crayola Markers on this one.
I used a dark brown eyeshadow on this one.
You could even use a DARKER eyeshadow for a darker skin tone.

I am so excited to share this with you just in time for all of the cute Back to School Activities you  will make in the 2018 - 2019 School Year.

FAQs


  • Where do I get the makeup?  It's expensive to buy it.  Yes!  You are right!  I raided my makeup drawer for old makeup that I no longer used and asked my friends for makeup that they didn't use any more.  You can ask for donations from parents as well.  
  • How do the kids apply the makeup? Set up a makeup station that you will run.  Let them use their fingers or a cotton square to apply the makeup.  I used both here.  First apply with the cotton square, then rub in the makeup with my finger until it looks even. Choose up to 5 kids to come work at your makeup station.  Try to get a variety of skin tones each time so they don't have to share.  This will make it go faster.
  • How will the kids know what color to use?  I made makeup swatches by rubbing each color on a small piece of paper and labeling the paper with the color and brand of the makeup.  From the swatches, they will choose the color closest to their skin tone. (Some may not have an exact match.) 
  • How do I make the cheeks rosy? Use a pink blush on the girls and boys too if they would like to add little color to their cheeks. Apply with the index finger in a circular motion. Boys may also want rosy cheeks, since girls aren't the only ones with naturally rosy cheeks. :) 
  • What kind of paper will the make up work on? I used card stock, white construction paper and regular copy paper and it worked great every time.  The coarser the paper, the more you will need to rub in and the longer you will need to rub.

Other Suggestions:

  • If you can't get any makeup from your friends, you can ask stores for donations for makeup that has been opened that they can't sell. Sephora and Ulta might help you out.

  • Know someone that gets IPSY Bags or Birch Boxes every month?.... They probably have some makeup that they aren't using.

  • Garage Sales might be a place that would have cheap makeup.  Tell them you are a teacher and see if they will donate the makeup.  

  • Ask for makeup donations on a local Facebook Group.  People usually are eager to help teachers out.
  • The LAST RESORT is to buy the makeup.  See what they have at a Dollar Tree or other stores that sell stuff for a dollar.  If you have to, there are some brands out there that are pretty cheap.  Elf is one that I have found.




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